TAKE HEED AND REMEMBER THE SHOUTING! - A preparation for Yom Teruah!

27th of the 6th month 2015/2016

Shabbat Shalom all,

We are fast approaching the Feasts of the 7th month with the expectation of the 7th month starting at sunset on this coming 2nd day!!! We all know what that means!!! The 1st of the 7th month is … Yom Teruah… The day of Trumpets!

In a brief message tonight called, “TAKE HEED AND REMEMBER THE SHOUTING!” I want us to be reminded of what this day signifies for us and learn some vital lessons on how we are to be a people that hear, guard and do all the commands of our Mighty Elohim, and are encouraging one another all the more as we see the Day of our Master approaching!

Wayyiqra/Leviticus 23:24 “Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, saying, ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you have a rest, a remembrance of blowing of trumpets, a set-apart gathering. 25 ‘You do no servile work, and you shall bring an offering made by fire to יהוה.’ ”

What we see from this clear instruction is that on the 1st of the 7th we are to have a ‘rest’, which in the Hebrew is the term שַׁבָּתוֹןshabbathonH7677 meaning a ‘Sabbath-like’ rest or Sabbath observance’. So although it may not fall on a Sabbath, the day is treated like one – you do no work and you have a set-apart gathering. And on top of that – you have a remembrance of Teru‘ah. The word for remembrance in Hebrew is זִכָּרוֹןzikkaronH2146 meaning ‘memorial, commemoration or remembrance’ and comes from the root word זָכַרzaḵarH2142 which means ‘to remember, or be mindful, or bring to remembrance’.

The Hebrew word that is translated as ‘blowing of trumpets’ is the noun תְּרוּעָהTeru‘ah - Strong’s H8643 whichmeans ‘a shout or blast of war, alarm or joy’, which comes from the root verb רוּעַrua – Strong’s H7321 meaning, ‘to raise a shout, give a blast, sound the alarm, shout for joy’, and it is on this day that we certainly raise a shout and blow the shofar/trumpets. While many are often confused as to what this day signifies, Scripture is very clear – it is a day of remembering the shout/shouting! The word תְּרוּעָהTeru‘ah is used to signify an alarming sound that signals a distinctive sound that must be heard and properly responded to! It is used to signal the distinctive sound of the shofar on the Yom Kippur that would fall on the 49th year in order to announce that the following year would be the Yoḇel (Jubilee – the year of release) and therefore proclaim the release with the Teruah sound of the shofar, giving people enough time to prepare for the release, as seen in:

Wayyiqra/Leviticus 25:9 “You shall then sound a shofar-soundon the tenth day of the seventh new moon, on Yom haKippurim cause a shofar to sound through all your land.”

Please take note that the year of release does not start on the 49th Yom Kippur, it is only proclaimed on this day, as there would still be another 5 months before the beginning of the Yoḇel (year of Jubilee)!

The word תְּרוּעָהTeru‘ah is also used to signal the shout of a great sound that would cause the enemies walls to come down:

Yehoshua/Joshua 6:5 “And it shall be, when they make a long blast with the horn of a yoḇel, and when you hear the voice of the shofar, that all the people shout with a great sound. And the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall go up every man straight before him.”

Shout with a great sound! The Hebrew root word translated as ‘shout’ is רוּעַrua – Strong’s H7321; and the Hebrew word translated as ‘great’ is גָּדוֹלgaḏol – Strong’s H1419 and means, ‘great, highest, mighty, marvellous’; and the Hebrew word translated as ‘sound’ is תְּרוּעָהTeru‘ah - Strong’s H8643. This was the great sound of victory that was shouted by all the people at the sound of the shofar, as the walls of Yeriḥo came crashing down!

While this is a very positive application of the sound of a great shout that brings victory, we also take note that תְּרוּעָהTeru‘ah - Strong’s H8643 also speaks of the alarming sound of the judgement that is coming upon the disobedient:

Yirmeyahu/Jeremiah 4:19 “O my inward parts, my inward parts! I am in pain! O the walls of my heart! My heart pounds in me, I am not silent. For you have heard, O my being, the voice of a shofar, a shoutof battle!”

Despite the urgent call given to a backsliding Yisra’ĕl to return to יהוה and wash their hearts from all defilement, we see that even though a voice of judgement and trouble that was coming had been made very clear they refused to listen and here Yirmeyahu cries out in anguish that the voice of a shofar and the shout of battle has been heard! Yisra’ĕl were not listening to the ‘shout’ of battle! The Hebrew word translated as ‘shout’ is תְּרוּעָהTeru‘ah - Strong’s H8643!

יהוה then says that His people are foolish and do not know Him:

Yirmeyahu/Jeremiah 4:22 “For My people are foolish, they have not known Me. They are stupid children, and they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.”

This is a very sobering reality of what we see happening today! Many people are not hearing this sound of the shout of war and due to a lack of knowledge they shall die! The day of the wrath of יהוה is coming and those who have ears and are not hearing are going to be in severe trouble!

The word תְּרוּעָהTeru‘ah - Strong’s H8643 is also used to sound the destruction that is coming on the enemies of Elohim!

Amos 2:2 “But I shall send fire upon Mo’aḇ, and it shall consume the palaces of Qeriyoth. And Mo’aḇ shall die amid uproar, with a cryand with the voice of a shofar.”

Yeshayahu/Isaiah 6:11 “Then I said, “יהוה, until when?” And He answered, “Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant, and the houses are without a man, and the land is laid waste, a ruin”

You will recall that this was the answer יהוה gave to Yeshayahu when he asked יהוה how long he was to speak to a people who would not listen! I do hope you are seeing a clear pattern in Scripture that I am laying out before you tonight, especially in relation to the significance of Yom Teruah!

This day is also typically referred to by many as ‘The Day of the awakening blast’, and for good reason I might add, especially as we consider the clear use of this word תְּרוּעָהTeru‘ah - Strong’s H8643.

תְּרוּעָהTeru‘ah - Strong’s H8643 is also used in expressing the exultation of praise that is to be given unto יהוה our Elohim:

Tehillah/Psalm 150:5 “Praise Him with sounding cymbals; praise Him with resoundingcymbals!”

Here תְּרוּעָהTeru‘ah - Strong’s H8643 is translated as ‘resounding’, signifying to us the great power and sound with which we are to be praising our Master and Elohim! We are to praise Him with sounding cymbals as well as with loud crashing cymbals – in other words our praise for Elohim must be heard!!!

Another example of the word תְּרוּעָה -‘Teru‘ah’ being used is seen in:

The word translated as ‘rejoicing’ is תְּרוּעָה -‘Teru‘ah’ and we are reminded that it is יהוה who fills us and fills our mouth with laughter and our lips with true ability to praise, through His life-giving Word that is our daily and lawful bread!

What we are to remember in terms of this is that we are to be a people who ‘rejoice always’, and so at the ‘remembrance of Teru‘ah’ we find that it is a good time to reflect on our attitudes! Are we truly rejoicing always and do we rejoice when we face all kinds of trials or do we find ourselves moaning and groaning at some pressures and hardships we face along the way??? Let us be reminded to be a rejoicing people – for we have truly nothing to moan about as we walk in Messiah who gives us abundant life!

The last example I want to give you today of where the word תְּרוּעָה -‘Teru‘ah’ is seen being used, is in:

Tehillah/Psalm 89:15 “Blessed are the people who know the sounding! They walk, Oיהוה, in the light of Your face.”

What a powerful verse this is!!! Blessed are those who know the festal trumpet call is how this could also be translated as we certainly recognise that the Appointed Times of Elohim are critical to our understanding of Scripture and the ability to know and walk in His commands as we follow His cycles and seasons gives us the blessing of walking in His light! Hebrew root word used here for ‘know’ is יָדַעyaḏa – Strong’s H3045 and means ‘to acknowledge, clearly understand, to perceive, distinguish and discern’ and implies the ability to respond to and recognise the Master’s voice. This is very powerful as we have seen that it was a voice of a shofar that was heard on Mount Sinai and then again in Yerushalayim, on Shaḇu’ot, there was a sound of a rushing wind which is also a clear reference back to the voice of a shofar!

Those who know His commands and understand through walking in them are blessed as we see here that the product of knowing the sounding is the ability to walk in His light!

We are then further able to clearly understand the words of Messiah when He says in:

Blessed are those who know the Teru‘ah! Blessed are those who hear the Master’s voice and turn to Him and follow Him and walk in Him. The word used for ‘walk’ is הָלַךְhalaḵ – Strong’s H1980 which means, ‘to go, come, walk, manner of life, cause to live’, and literally speaks of how one lives, and it is used as a verb indicating that it is an active expression of one’s life. Our ‘walk’ matters and how we walk before Elohim matters and we are given clear instructions on how to walk – and our walk cannot be complete in Him if we forget to keep His Feasts!

Now that I have given a brief outline of the various uses of תְּרוּעָהTeru‘ah - Strong’s H8643 in the Scriptures, we ought to be able to recognise the vital need for us to be a people have ears to hear and are awake, watchful, sober and alert, and are bringing the constant praise that is due to our Mighty Elohim!

תְּרוּעָהTeru‘ah - Strong’s H8643 signifies a sound that is very loud and is the kind of sound that will awaken any from their sleep! When I also think about this day of the awakening blast I am immediately drawn to the parable our Master gave on the 10 maidens/virgins which we find in Mattithyahu/Matthew 25:1-12. There were 10 maidens, 5 wise and 5 foolish. The 5 wise had oil in the lamps while the 5 foolish did not. When the Master took long in coming they all slumbered and slept. When the awakening cry came at midnight they all woke up and trimmed their lamps and the 5 foolish who didn’t have oil asked the 5 wise for some and were told to go and get their own. While they went away the Bridegroom came and the 5 wise ones entered in to the wedding feast and the doors were shut. When the 5 foolish came back after having gone to buy oil they asked for the doors to be opened for them and were told by the Master that He did not know them!

This parable has great significance on the need for us to be a people who hear the shout and remember the shouting so that we keep our lamps filled with oil by walking in the Spirit, for there is no condemnation for those who are in Messiah יהושע, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit, and stay in Him as we hear, guard and do all He commands us to!

As we consider this day of Yom Teruah and the command for us to have a remembrance of Teruah we recognise how urgent we are to be in making ourselves ready and not be found unprepared and dirtied with compromise!

Yoḥanan Aleph/1 John 3:2-3 “Beloved ones, now we are children of Elohim. And it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3 And everyone having this expectation in Him cleanses himself, as He is clean.”

The picture of cleansing oneself and being ready for the trumpet sound speaks of our readiness for the soon return of our Master. We will also do well to remember the clear pattern we are given in the Torah as we consider the events that took place at Mount Sinai.

In Shemoth/Exodus 19 Mosheh was told by יהוה to set the people apart for two days and on the third day he would come down on Mount Sinai before all the people. The people washed their garments and on the third day we see:

Shemoth/Exodus 19:16 “And it came to be, on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightning’s, and a thick cloud on the mountain. And a voice of a shofar was very strong, and all the people who were in the camp trembled.”

Shemoth/Exodus 19:19 “And a voice of the shofar sounded long and became very strong, Mosheh spoke, and Elohim answered him by voice.”

With the people cleansed and ready they were ready to enter into the Marriage Covenant with Elohim, for the Bride had cleansed herself!

The Greek word used in the LXX as an equivalent to Teruah is the word σάλπιγξsalpigx – Strong’s G4536 and we see this word being used 11 times in the Renewed Writings (N.T.) which is primarily used in reference to the trumpets of Elohim! In speaking of the end times we take note of the words of our Master, in:

Mattithyahu/Matthew 24:31-33 “And He shall send His messengers with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. 32 “And learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that the summer is near. 33 “So you also, when you see all these, know that He is near, at the doors.”

In this parable He is clearly teaching us to be the washed and ready wise maidens who have prepared themselves and have oil in their lamps, and will not be caught unawares when the Trumpet blast is made loud and clear to all!

Yom Teruah will usher in the sounding of the Trumpets that will bring forth the unleashing of the wrath of Elohim, and then on Yom Kippur the Last trumpet will sound!

Qorintiyim Aleph/1 Corinthians 15:51-52 “See, I speak a secret to you: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”

As we consider the trumpet sound, and the remembrance of trumpets we are clearly called to remember that we are betrothed and have been given to One Husband, for which we must be ready when He returns, and be presented before Him as an innocent maiden, as we see in the words of Sha’ul to the believers in Corinth:

Qorintiyim Bět/2 Corinthians 11:2 “For I am jealous for you with a jealousy according to Elohim. For I gave you in marriage to one husband, to present you as an innocent maiden to Messiah.”

While we should certainly not need reminding who we are betrothed to, we take heed of the clear significance that Yom Teruah represents, and that is that we must make sure that we are indeed a washed and ready Bride, and in doing so we recognise our ability to properly praise Him should never be hindered in the least, lest we are found facing the dreadful sounding of His wrath for disobedience and compromise!

In preparation for Yom Teruah we recognise the severe warning that is given to those who do not hear!

Yeḥezqěl/Ezekiel 33:1-5 “And the word of יהוהcame to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and you shall say to them, ‘When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land shall take a man from their borders and shall make him their watchman, 3 and he sees the sword coming upon the land, and shall blow with the shofar and shall warn the people, 4 then whoever shall hear the voice of the shofar and shall not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood is on his own head. 5 ‘He heard the voice of the shofar, but he did not take warning, his blood is on himself. But he who takes warning shall deliver his being.”

Those who hear the warning sound of the shofar and take warning shall deliver their being while those who hear and do not take warning will have their blood on their own head, signifying that they are guilty and will die!

The one who takes warning is one who is a hearer and doer of the Word and not just a hearer only!

What we must also ask ourselves in a proper preparation of cleaning ourselves as we should, before the awakening blast is resounded, is whether we are in fact listening as we should or not. Are we truly taking heed of the warnings in Scripture as given by the prophets of Elohim? How is your daily walk? יהוה repeatedly tell us in His Word that He sent His prophets yet a stubborn people refuse to listen!

Amos 3:6-7 “If a shofar is blown in a city, do the people not tremble? If there is calamity in a city, shall not יהוה have done it? 7 For the Master יהוה does no matter unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.”

While things may take people by surprise, nothing takes יהוה by surprise. He has declared the end from the beginning and He has made clear the trumpet sound of His voice to all mankind through His prophets, yet who is truly trembling at His Word? We can all agree that there is a great lack of true reverence and fear of Elohim, and therefore we must look into the mirror of the Word and take heed of the clear shofar blasting warnings that are given in the prophets and ask ourselves whether we are walking in the proper fear of Elohim or not! How is your walk of set-apartness? Do you allow compromise to be a regular part of your daily walk and have you found that there have been times where you have taken His favour and loving-commitment for granted? As we take heed and remember the shouting we must be reminded to never use His favour as a license to sin or allow compromise to settle in!!!

Tsephanyah/Zephaniah 1:14-16 “Near is the great day of יהוה, near and hurrying greatly, the noise of the day of יהוה. Let the mighty man then bitterly cry out! 15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of distress and trouble, a day of waste and ruin, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, 16 a day of a shofar and sounding– against the walled cities and against the corner towers.”

It is a day of a shofar and Teruah!!! This is the sound of warnings that we see being given in the prophets and the question we must always be asking ourselves is, “Am I listening?”

Qorintiyim Aleph/1 Corinthians 10:11-12 “And all these came upon them as examples, and they were written as a warning to us, on whom the ends of the ages have come, 12 so that he who thinks he stands, let him take heed lest he fall.”

We need to ‘take heed’ and be sober and watchful as we make ourselves ready for our coming King!

As we consider the call to take heed, lest we fall, we must realise the real dangers that we face each and every day!

We must take heed against false teachers and those who mix their teachings with false traditions, teaching as teachings the commands of men while forsaking the Torah of Elohim! Messiah warns us in Mattithyahu/Matthew 24:4 that we must take heed that no one leads us astray and in Marqos/Mark 8:15 He tells us to beware against the leaven of the Pharisees and in Marqos/Mark 12:38 He tells us to beware of false scribes who love to be seen and make a show and be popular with the people! Sha’ul warns us in Pilipiyim/Philippians 3 to watch out for those who are falsely teaching others to get physically circumcised and calls them ‘evil workers’! He also warns us in Qolasim/Colossians 3:8 to not let anyone make a prey of us through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men and elementary matters of the word that are not of Messiah!

As we take heed and remember the shouting, and remember how we are all unique parts of the body of Messiah, we must not find ourselves neglecting our required set-apartness and responsibility to the body, and not be found hiding the talents He has given but make sure that we are building each other up in the Most Set-Apart faith and make sure that we do not stop running as we fix our eyes on our Master and Elohim!

Ḥaggai teaches us the vital lesson for us to consider our ways, and as we take heed and remember the shouting, ask yourself this: “Does the mirror of the Word reveal that there is compromise in my life and I have been busy building my own life, and building toward my own selfishness and fleshly desires and have neglected the true Dwelling Place of the Most High or am I actively engaged in building up the body of Messiah as I should be?”

“Am I more concerned about my own ways than the House of Elohim?”

Do not neglect your much needed part in actively engaging in the body of Messiah, which we all are!!!

Yom Teruah will cause a shaking for many, and we would do well to take heed in preparation of the Teruah and be on guard against any selfishness and pride, in order that we can give a great resounding Teruah shout of praise unto Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light!

As we consider how our lamps are to be trimmed and filled with oil we must carefully consider our way of life and make sure that we are shining the light of the Truth in all matters and take heed that we hear as we should, for our Master asked the very sobering question that when he comes again will He find faith!

As we take heed against false doctrines, I just want to make it very clear that Yom Teruah is NOT ‘Rosh Hashanah’!!!

Shemoth/Exodus 12 tells us that the month/new moon of Yisra’ĕl’s departure from Mitsrayim will be the beginning of new moons and it is the first of the year – in other words the 1st month is the beginning of the year and not the 7th month!

Shemoth/Exodus 12:2 “This new moon is the beginning of new moons for you, it is the first new moon of the year for you.”

In this verse the phrase ‘it is the first new moon of the year for you’ is written as follows:

רִאשׁוֹןהוּאלָכֶםלְחָדְשֵׁיהַשָּׁנָה – ‘rishonhuwlaḵaml’ḥaḏsheyhashana’ and broken down is as follows:

לָכֶם – laḵam – this is from the word אַתָּהattah – Strong’s H859 which means, ‘you (masculine singular)’, and with the ‘lamed – לָ – being used as a preposition meaning, ‘to, for’, the construct of the word changes to the plural rendering it as meaning, ‘for you (plural)’.

The reason for breaking this down in this manner is to simply show that the clear instruction being given to Yisra’ĕl is that this first month will be for you (Yisra’ĕl) the month that begins the year!!!

In Rabbinical Judaism there are errors in their man made calendars that call Rosh Hashanah at the 1st of the 7th month, when it is Yom Teruah (Feast of Trumpets). In fact some rabbinic teachings have 4 ‘new years’ in the year to signify different seasons and agriculture. This is simply crazy and very confusing, which the Word of יהוה is not to those who will but just hear and obey! The Rabbinic way of naming the 7th month as the head of the year is in no way different to the major error that Christianity has done in replacing the 7th day Sabbath with the sun-worship practice of worshipping on the 1st day of the week, hence the pagan name of the day called after its man-driven purpose of falsified worship – Sun-Day!

Both have tried to change – and I say tried to because no one can change יהוה’s order of Appointed Times as set in the Creation Week – Both Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity has attempted to change 7 for 1! Rosh Hashanah always was and always will be at the 1st month – the month known as the month of Aḇiḇ - the month Yisra’ĕl came out of Mitsrayim!

The day of Yom Teru‘ah causes us to remember that we are married and that the day of the return of our Husband draws near and so we are to raise a shout of joy, but also one of alarm – an alarm call that reminds us to be armed in the Torah and stand steadfast in our Master and Elohim, יהושע Messiah, along with the reminder of our responsibility to call people out of darkness, as the Spirit and the Bride say ‘Come’!

Yom Teruah will be a great day of the resounding shout of victory for those who have oil in their lamps while it will be the beginnings of the dark days of destruction that will be unleashed upon the workers of lawlessness and wickedness and those who have no oil!

In closing I would like to show you the Hebrew word for Teruah in the ancient pictographic script.

As already mentioned, the Hebrew ‘Teru‘ah’ תְּרוּעָה- Strong’s H8643 – means ‘a shout or blast of war, alarm or joy’ which comes from the primitive root word רוּעַrua – Strong’s H7321 meaning, ‘to raise a shout, give a blast, sound the alarm, shout for joy’, and it is on this day of Yom Teruah that we certainly raise a shout and blow the shofar/trumpets. This is how it looks in the ancient pictographic script:

Taw – תְּ:

The ancient script has this letter as which is pictured as two crossed sticks, and can represent for us ‘seal, covenant, mark or sign’; as this once again points to the complete work of Messiah in the renewal of the Covenant in His Blood that brings the two Houses of Yisra’ĕl and Yehuḏah together in Him, as One, for He is not only the ‘aleph’, but is also the ‘taw’ – the beginning and the end of all creation!

Resh –ר:

The ancient script has this letter ‘resh’ as – – and is pictured as ‘the head of a man’ and has the meaning of the head of a manas well as chief, top, beggingor first. This letter can mean ‘top’ – as in the top or head of a body; and ‘chief’ – as in head of a tribe or people, as well as the one who rules the people.

Waw/Vav – וּ:

The ancient script has this letter pictured as , which is a ‘peg’ or ‘tent peg’, which was used for securing or tying the tent or other items. The possibility of it having a Y-shape is to show that it prevents the rope from slipping off. The root meaning of this letter is ‘to add, secure or hook’. It is by the work of Messiah, in His own Blood, which has secured for us His Covenants of promise, to which we are added to; and His righteousness stands forever secured in Him!

Ayin - עָ:

The original pictograph for this letter is and represents the idea of ‘seeing and watching’, as well as ‘knowledge’, as the eye is the ‘window of knowledge’.

Hey - ה:

The ancient script has this letter as and is pictured as a man standing with his arms raised up and out as if pointing to something, and in essence carries the meaning of ‘behold’ as in when looking at something very great. It can also have the meaning to ‘breath’ or ‘sigh’ as when looking at a great sight and having your breath taken away so to speak! It also has the meaning of revelation or to reveal something by pointing it out, as well as ‘praise’ through the lifting up of our hands in complete awe and surrender.

BEHOLD THE SEAL OF THE COVENANT WITH OUR HEAD IS SECURED IN THOSE WHO KNOW HIM AND WHO FIX THEIR EYES UPON THE ONE TO BE PRAISED!

That is worth shouting about!!!

Tehillah/Psalm 89:15 “Blessed are the people who know the Teruah! They walk, O יהוה, in the light of Your face.”

Tehillah/Psalm 33:3 “Sing to Him a new song; play sweetly with a shout of joy.”

Let us be watchful as we:

TAKE HEED AND REMEMBER THE SHOUTING!

יהוה bless you and guard you; יהוה make His face shine upon you and show you favour; יהוה lift up His face to you and give you Shalom!